BoxRec

Here are a couple of extracts from a Jermain Taylor press release, ahead of his HBO bout with Winky Wright. I know Stewart is well known for talking up his fighters but it is pleasing to know that Andy Lee, the Limerick amateur standout, is getting such good experience so early in his career.

"This ain't no place to try and be somebody," laughed Steward. "You come in here with your head up in the clouds, you're in the wrong place. So Jermain comes in, and he boxes the first time with Andy Lee, a left handed middleweight who's one of the stars at our gym right now, and they had a real rough and spirited workout. It was nip and tuck. He said, 'I'm not used to that.' They boxed again on Friday and there was electricity in the air. Jermain said, 'I've been here for two weeks training. Never once has somebody asked me for my autograph. Nobody's even asked to take a picture with me.' I told him, 'You've got to realize that you were taking on the middleweight champion of this gym in Andy Lee. This is his turf right here, and you being the middleweight champion of the world, you've got to earn that respect here.'"

"I've had five southpaw world champions," continues Steward, "and everybody's working to help him - Andy's showing him what he gets hit the most with as a southpaw and we've got Sechew Powell, another undefeated boxer. But no one has ever seen Winky Wright decisively beaten and he's on a roll right now. I've had a lot of these situations and it's a challenge, but I find it stimulating to me as well. This is a hard guy to fight, and I'm a big fan of Winky, but I see a lot of little weaknesses, and I've got a younger fighter with faster hands and who's bigger. If Jermain's in great shape physically and mentally and competing on a high level in the gym, he's gonna be a difficult guy for anybody to fight."

Working with Jermain Taylor can only improve Lee and the level of sparring he will be getting in the Kronk will far outweigh any he could have received if he turned pro in Britian. He has already been exposed to fighting in Germany as well as America in his pro infancy – how far do people think Lee can go?

From watching Lee in the vest I thought he was well suited for the amateur point scoring system, but who knows, with Stewart behind him maybe he can make head way in the pro game as well?

That's really impressive if Lee is already holding his own with Taylor... But Steward had always been a bit of a bullshitter...

Yeah you have to take into account the 'Manny Stewart bull5hit factor' but regardless of who is bossing who in the sparring, its got to be great experience for a young pro.

Who would Lee be sparring if he turned pro over here? The only sparring I could think of as being equitable would be Howard Eastman through the Hennessey camp, but that work has hardly done a lot from Thirwall has it?...

thought Lee looked good in Germany and you can tell he's working with Steward. with the level of sparring he will be getting and being around the middleweight champ can only help.

Good to see he's working with Sechew Powell as well. I saw Powell train at Gleasons Gym in 2003, and he was the hotshot of the gym there as well, so working at the Kronk will benefit him too. Watch out for him. He'll be good.

Boxingmad wrote:Good to see he's working with Sechew Powell as well. I saw Powell train at Gleasons Gym in 2003, and he was the hotshot of the gym there as well, so working at the Kronk will benefit him too. Watch out for him. He'll be good.

Powell was given a lot of hype when he turned over in NY but he has failed to capitalise on it so far, as far as I can tell.

Perhaps a lack of power, I dunno as I have never seen him box, but I have read he is very skillful.

If Manny Steward says it's a scorcher outside, take some snowshoes with you....

jamesmcdonnell wrote:If Manny Steward says it's a scorcher outside, take some snowshoes with you....

Granted.

But Manny does have a habit of producing world class, quality fighters from that run down kronk gym (admittedly less so in recent years.)

I look forward to tracking Lee's progress under his tutelage.

Good to see a Brit prospect get genuine quality experience early on in his career. So many of our fighters have left you wondering 'what if?'.

Lee's bigget problem is his punching power or lack of. Hopefully, Steward can help him develop some pop in his fists.

Ulysses wrote:Lee's bigget problem is his punching power or lack of. Hopefully, Steward can help him develop some pop in his fists.

he managed to turn the hitman from a non-punching amateur so who knows?...

It's definetly his forte, if Manny cannot turn you into a power puncher, then you just ain't got it.

I think Winky will struggle with Taylor, he's big and quick and hits hard, and also throws a lot of shots, including the jab. Winky likes to fight at his own pace, and will have to hit hard and often enough to discourage Taylor.

If Taylor does beat Winky, it will put Hopkins' late career into perspective.

E wrote:That's really impressive if Lee is already holding his own with Taylor... But Steward had always been a bit of a bullshitter...

Good on AL.


Steward = Grade A Bullshit.

Hold on....not another sparring story...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

TerribleTerry wrote:

jamesmcdonnell wrote:If Manny Steward says it's a scorcher outside, take some snowshoes with you....

Granted.

But Manny does have a habit of producing world class, quality fighters from that run down kronk gym (admittedly less so in recent years.)

I look forward to tracking Lee's progress under his tutelage.

it can only benefit him at this early stage!!

Terence wrote:Do you mean in terms of showing Taylor's class?

No, I meant more in showing how good Hopkins really was, his career can be difficult to assess due to the paucity of talent at middleweight over the last 10 years. If Taylor turns out to be good enough to beat Wright, then suddenly you realise that old man Hopkins was still a force, if a boring one at 41.

Goz wrote:Good to see a Brit prospect get genuine quality experience early on in his career. So many of our fighters have left you wondering 'what if?'.

What Brit prospect ?

Wasn't he born in London?

Lenny Albert wrote:Wasn't he born in London?

http://www.boxrec.com/boxer_display.php?boxer_id=344849

Yeah he was and he boxed for Repton. I believe he lived most of his life in London; not sure. He is clearly of Irish descent (not sure to what extent) but obviously he is being marketed as 'Oirish' for the American bogus Irish "top o' the maaarnin" boxing fan......

I liked the comment in this month's Boxing Monthly that given the resurgence in NY boxing due to the Irish element, Shane Moseley should try and pass himself off as Irish on account of his Christian name

E wrote:

Lenny Albert wrote:Wasn't he born in London?

http://www.spam.com/boxer_display.php?boxer_id=344849

Yeah he was and he boxed for Repton. I believe he lived most of his life in London; not sure. He is clearly of Irish descent (not sure to what extent) but obviously he is being marketed as 'Oirish' for the American bogus Irish "top o' the maaarnin" boxing fan......

Not to be picky but both Andy's parent are Irish. Andy was born in London but the family moved back home to Ireland when he was in his early teens. Andy has always boxed for Ireland as an amateur. He certainly considers himself 100% Irish.

celticwarrior wrote:

E wrote:

Lenny Albert wrote:Wasn't he born in London?

http://www.spam.com/boxer_display.php?boxer_id=344849

Yeah he was and he boxed for Repton. I believe he lived most of his life in London; not sure. He is clearly of Irish descent (not sure to what extent) but obviously he is being marketed as 'Oirish' for the American bogus Irish "top o' the maaarnin" boxing fan......

Not to be picky but both Andy's parent are Irish. Andy was born in London but the family moved back home to Ireland when he was in his early teens. Andy has always boxed for Ireland as an amateur. He certainly considers himself 100% Irish.

Fair enough mate, I wasn't really sure......you just never know with the Americans they pass off the majority of white fighters as Irish....I remember reading an article that Ricky Hatton was thinking of stressing some distant Irish roots to excite the Americans.

Thanks for the info.